Alameda board reviews midyear work plan, staff seeks volunteers for Jan. 22 point‑in‑time count

The Social Service & Human Relations Board reviewed midyear progress on its 2025–26 work plan and discussed how staff and board members will share responsibilities in producing a community needs assessment that will feed the city’s next strategic plan.

Gresa Manon, program manager in the Housing & Human Services Division, and staff said the needs assessment will be led by division staff with consultant support; board members were invited to participate in three stakeholder sessions and to review a draft needs assessment before it is finalized. Manon told the board the assessment will inform the next five‑year strategic plan and that staff will collect quantitative data from HMIS (the Homeless Management Information System) and supplemental survey data for populations not captured in HMIS.

Homelessness Manager Camille Rodriguez briefed the board on the city’s point‑in‑time (PIT) count, asking for volunteers for the Jan. 22, 2026, count. "I'm asking that everybody start showing up at about 4:30 so we can start at 5," Rodriguez said, describing teams of three‑to‑four volunteers walking assigned census tracks, incentive gift cards and care packages to offer people they contact. Rodriguez said about 50 volunteers had registered and staff hoped to recruit additional volunteers to ensure full coverage of the city’s census tracks.

Board members pressed staff on data and methodology. Camille Rodriguez explained that a PIT "known location" represents a mapped sighting (longitude/latitude) and can count multiple known locations for a single person who moves within the city; the number of known locations is not a direct one‑for‑one person count. Members also raised the importance of including other indicators previously used for grant applications — census, police/fire and domestic‑violence calls — and staff said stakeholder interviews and surveys should capture those supplemental data points.

Other staff updates: the division reported Maron Builders was selected as contractor for the day‑center relocation with construction expected late summer or early fall; the city executed social‑service contracts after a federal shutdown; the five‑year progress report was accepted by council; and staff reported 17 below‑market‑rate homes were sold to low‑ and moderate‑income households from Sept.–Dec.

What’s next: Staff will convene stakeholder sessions and present a draft community needs assessment to the board for feedback; volunteers may still register for the PIT count. The board did not take formal policy action at the meeting but discussed next steps for committee outreach and tasks to prepare council materials.